Peanut butter crisscrosses

At a recent Hill Country church bake sale, I was faced with a difficult decision—which dessert to try? There were pies, cakes, and cookies, and while they all looked good I was limited to just one. It was a tough choice, but a nice woman made it easier for me when she pointed to a pan filled with peach cobbler and said, “You want that one. My mother made that cobbler and it’s the best.”

And that’s the truth—your mother’s dish is always the best. There’s just something about your mother’s (and grandmother’s, and great-grandmother’s) cooking that makes you happy.

Why is this? I reckon because it’s made with love.

A reader once commented on my great-grandmother’s buttermilk pie. While my great-grandmother’s recipe called for the same ingredients and method as his grandmother’s pie, he admitted he was still partial to his grandmother’s version. And that’s exactly how it should be, I said. Your mother’s (and grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s) cooking is always the best because it’s filled with good memories of the one who made it. Now, speaking of recipes—while it’s sometimes difficult to recapture those warm feelings that comes from a dish made by our mothers, at least a recipe is a starting point to recreating some of those feelings, especially if our loved ones are no longer with us. A few years ago, my mom gave me her grandmother’s collection of handwritten recipes.

While I’m honored to have these in my possession, I’ve been scanning them into my computer so I can share these documents with the rest of the family. As I was working on this project I came across Grandma Blanche’s recipe for peanut butter crisscrosses.

This is a simple peanut butter cookie, probably the same one you grew up eating. My mom has told me how she has good memories of going to visit her grandmother and eating cookies, so I thought that making a batch of her grandmother’s cookies would make for a fine mother’s day gift.

The recipe calls for shortening, which I followed directly in one batch, but in another I substituted butter with excellent results, should you care to do the same. And while the straight peanut butter cookie is soft and rich, I couldn’t resist throwing in a handful of chocolate chips in a batch, which also makes for a delicious cookie.

Will these peanut butter crisscrosses taste as good as the ones my mom grew up eating in her grandma’s kitchen? Probably not exactly, but I reckon they will still be good because they, too, were made with love.

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Peanut butter crisscrosses

Servings24cookies

AuthorLisa Fain

Ingredients

1/2cupshortening or 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/2cupgranulated sugar

1/2cuppacked brown sugar

1/2teaspoonvanilla extract

1large egg, beaten

1/2cupcreamy peanut butter

2cupsall-purpose flour

1teaspoonbaking soda

1/4teaspoonsalt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together the shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in the eggs and then blend in the peanut butter. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt until a smooth dough is formed. (If it’s a little sandy, that’s okay as the dough will come together when you form the cookies.)

Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Press the balls down with a fork making a crisscross pattern. Bake one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes. Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes. These are super soft when they come out of the oven and need time to harden a bit.

Recipe Notes

Add 1 cup of chocolate chips for a peanut butter and chocolate cookie.

I've found that it's surprisingly hard to find a good, solid recipe for peanut butter cookies. I'm so excited to try this! Inevitably, I'm going to end up eating half of them straight out of the oven and then telling myself in the Cookie Monster voice: "Cookies are a sometimes food!" Thank you so much for sharing!

From Lisa's mom–Farmer Jen, thank you for the mother's day greetings! I went out to dinner tonight in Tyler with the retired bishop of Texas and other clergy, and the conversation was, once again, about my daughter's fabulous cookbook. The bishop doesn't have one yet so he'll be getting one as a gift soon!

Hi Lisa, I just received your cookbook from Amazon, and I have to tell you how much I love it. I had already made the pork carnitas after having read about them from Deb @smittenkitchen, which prompted me to purchase your cookbook, -just sayin. There are so many recipes I'm going to make, and I will be filling up my freezer with chuck roast, pork shoulder roast and brisket, which works out great, since they're some of my favorite meats anyway. I'm also seriously infatuated with the chocoflan recipe. However, the photo shows a flat piece of cake, while the recipe calls for bundt, tube or round cake pans. I also noticed that some of the other baked goods don't specify what size pan to use. This kind of thing always makes me leery to try a recipe for the first time, and I was hoping you could let me know what size pans you use, so I could relax and rest assured that I'm using the right size pan. I would sure appreciate it. : )

Shari–Thanks for writing. I'm glad you're enjoying the book! That photo is from the 9-inch square variation mentioned at the end of the recipe. Likewise, all of the baked goods say what size pan, sheet, etc. to use in the method, step 1. Happy cooking!

Well it is Mother's Day – my Momma's second Mother's day in heaven! This post brought back such a sweet memory – my Mom made the best peanut butter criss crosses – and she would let me help her do the crisscross part. Thanks Lisa! From cheryl in Canyon, TX

Lisa, thanks for your response. I checked out the variation and some of the other recipes where I thought the vital info was missing, and I feel silly for not taking the time to look closer before asking for your help. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes! I'll write again when I try some more of them. (Oh yeah, I'm going to need to stock up on an assortment of dried chili's also). We have a Large hispanic community here in Idaho, so I shouldn't have any problem finding the peppers.

I don't know what it is, but I'm considered a really good cook and I still make the same dishes my mom did when I was a child, but when I go home for a visit, there is something about my mom's cooking. The house with the aroma and all the memories of growing up there.

Made these last night in my tiny, D.C. studio apartment. Woke up this morning to find the heavenly scent still lingered. I'm actually from the Texas Hill Country and love what you've created with this blog. Keep up the posts!

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